1923 Alfa Romeo RL Roadster

The Alfa Romeo RL was produced between 1922 and 1927. It was Alfa's first sports model after World War 1. The car was designed in 1921 by Giuseppe Merosi and had a straight 6 engine with overhead valves. Three different versions were made: Normale, Turismo and Sport. The RL Targa Florio was the race version and was half the weight of the other models. In 1923 Alfa's racing team had drivers like Ugo Sivocci, Antonio Ascari, Giulio Masetti and Enzo Ferrari, who would later become the Alfa Romeo team manager before starting his own sports car company. Famously superstitious, Sivocci painted a green cloverleaf symbol on a white background on the bonnet of his RL, and after he won the Targa Florio in 1923 that symbol was adopted by the Alfa Romeo team and used to this day as a good luck token on all its race team cars.